COCAINE ADDICTION:
THE FACTS ABOUT CRACK COCAINE
People say that once you try cocaine, it’s very hard not to become dependent on it. In fact, almost 30% of all cocaine users are considered “addicted”. Overall, the incidence of cocaine use is about 0.8% per year and up to 0.5% of teens. Cocaine addition can occur very quickly. Scientific studies have shown that laboratory animals will push a button over 10,000 times for a single hit of cocaine and will use cocaine even when they know the use will lead to punishment.
Cocaine is a natural extract from the coca plant. It comes in two forms: (1) Powdered cocaine that is snorted, eaten, injected or applied to other mucus membranes, and (2) “Crack cocaine”, a substance that looks like soap shavings or white crystals. Crack is also called free-based cocaine and is made by cooking cocaine in ammonia or in baking powder so that it creates particles large enough to be smoked.
While both forms of cocaine are addictive, crack cocaine is considered more addictive than powdered cocaine. This is because the effects of crack cocaine are felt more quickly and more intensely than the powdered form. Both substances provide a brief feeling of euphoria, physical and emotional stimulation and a higher level of energy. Some people feel a sense of wellbeing while others feel anxious. The effects of the drug gradually wear off, leaving the user with an intense depression—a “crash” of sleepiness and lethargy that can last for several days. This leaves the user only craving more of the feeling they had that while using that was all too brief to begin with.
When crack or cocaine is used habitually, users can begin to feel paranoid or depressed. They can experience hallucinations, seizures, heart attack or stroke. One nasty complication of habitual use is known as “formication”. The user feels the sensation of insects or worms crawling under their skin. Users have been known to commit suicide because of the intensity of the depression or because of hallucinations or the constant feeling of formication.
To make matters worse, some users can worsen their addiction potential by combining cocaine with heroin to make a “speed ball” or by combining it with morphine to make “whiz-bang”. The real danger of cocaine and crack is that the constant need to get “more” often wrecks families, jobs and can lead to illegal activities like burglary and robbery—acts that become the only way some users can afford to get the next short-lived hit.
